Apart from being the administrative centre of the state and its historic importance, the city is also a major educational and medical centre. The economy of Patna is based on the local service industry. Patna has the highest per capita gross district domestic product in Bihar: Rs 31,441,[3] which is better than the most of the metropolitan areas in India.[4] Patna is the 21st-fastest growing city and urban area in the world and the 5th-fastest growing city in India.[5] In June 2009, The World Bank ranked Patna as the second-best city in India to start a business, after Delhi.[6]

History

Legend ascribes the origin of Patna to a mythological King Putraka who created Patna by magic for his queen Patali, literally "trumpet flower", which gives it its ancient name Pataligrama. It is said that in honour of the queen's first-born, the city was named Pataliputra. Gram is Sanskrit for village and Putra means son.

From a scientific historical perspective, it would be appropriate to surmise that the history of Patna started around the year 490 BCE when Ajatashatru, the king of Magadha, wanted to shift his capital from the hilly Rajagaha to a more strategically located place to combat the Licchavis of Vaishali. He chose the site on the bank of Ganges and fortified the area. From that time, the city has had a continuous history, a record claimed by few cities in the world. When founded, it was known as "Pataligrama" and in later years it was "Pataliputra" which is today's Patna. Gautama Buddha passed through this place in the last year of his life. He prophesied a great future for this place, but at the same time, he predicted its ruin from flood, fire, and feud. It is said that Buddha made a halt here when he was on the last journey to his native land of Kapilavastu.

Early Mauryan Pataliputra was mostly built with wooden structures. Emperor Ashoka, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, transformed the wooden capital into a stone construction around 273 BCE. Chinese scholar Fa Hein, who visited India sometime around 399-414 CE, has given a vivid description of the stone structures in his travelogue.

Megasthenes (350-290 BCE), a Greek historian and ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, gives the first written account of Pataliputra. In his book Indika, he mentions that the city of Palibothra (Pataliputra, modern day Patna) was situated on the confluence of the rivers Ganges and Arennovoas (Sonabhadra - Hiranyawah) and was 9 miles (14 km) long and 1.75 miles (2.82 km) wide.[10][14]Michael Wood, in The Story of India (2007), describes this city as the greatest city on earth during its heyday.[15]

Much later, a number of Chinese travellers came to India in pursuit of knowledge and recorded their observation about Pataliputra in their travelogues, including those of a Chinese Buddhist Fa Hien, who visited India between 399 and 414 CE, and stayed here for many months translating Buddhist texts.[16]

In the years that followed, the city saw many dynasties ruling the Indian subcontinent from here. It saw the rules of the Gupta empire and the Pala kings. However, it never reached the glory that it had under the Mauryas.

Harmandir Saheb, Patna City

With the disintegration of the Gupta empire, Patna passed through uncertain times. Bakhtiar Khilji captured Bihar in the 12th century AD and destroyed many ancient seats of learning, and Patna lost its prestige as the political and cultural center of India.

Guru Gobind Singh (Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ) (December 22, 1666 – October 7, 1708), the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, was born as Gobind Rai in Patna to Teg Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, and his wife Gujri. His birthplace, Harmandir saheb, is one of the most sacred pilgrimages for Sikhs.

The Mughal period was a period of unremarkable provincial administration from Delhi. The most remarkable period during these times was under Sher Shah Suri, who revived Patna in the middle of the 16th century. He built a fort and founded a town on the banks of Ganga. Sher Shah's fort in Patna does not survive, but the mosque, Sher Shah Suri Masjid, built in Afghan architectural style, survives.

Mughal emperor Akbar came to Patna in 1574 to crush the Afghan Chief Daud Khan. Akbar's navratna and state's official historian and author of "Ain-i-Akbari" Abul Fazl refers to Patna as a flourishing centre for paper, stone and glass industries. He also refers to the high quality of numerous strains of rice grown in Patna, famous as Patna rice in Europe.

By 1620 the city of Patna was the great entrepot of Northern India - "the largest town in Bengal and the most famous for trade".[17] This was before the founding of the city of Calcutta.

Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb acceded to the request of his favourite grandson, Prince Muhammad Azim, to rename Patna as Azimabad, in 1704 while Azim was in Patna as the subedar. However, very little changed during this period other than the name.

With the decline of the Mughal empire, Patna moved into the hands of the Nawabs of Bengal, who levied a heavy tax on the populace but allowed it to flourish as a commercial centre.

City of Patna, on the River Ganges, 19th century painting.

The mansions of the Maharaja of Tekari Raj dominated the Patna riverfront in 1811-12.[18]

During the 17th century, Patna became a centre of international trade. The British started with a factory in Patna in 1620 for trading in calico and silk. Soon it became a trading centre for saltpetre, urging other Europeans—French, Danes, Dutch and Portuguese—to compete in the lucrative business. Peter Mundy, writing in 1632, described Patna as "the greatest mart of the eastern region".

In 1912, Patna became the capital of Orissa Province and Bihâr when Bengal Presidency was partitioned. It soon emerged as an important and strategic centre. A number of imposing structures were constructed by the British. Credit for designing the massive and majestic buildings of colonial Patna goes to the architect, I. F. Munnings. Most of these buildings reflect either Indo-Saracenic influence (like Patna Museum and the state Assembly), or overt Renaissance influence like the Raj Bhawan and the High Court. Some buildings, like the General Post Office (GPO) and the Old Secretariat bear pseudo-Renaissance influence. Some say the experience gained in building the new capital area of Patna proved very useful in building the imperial capital, New Delhi. Orissa was created as a separate province in 1935. Patna continued as the capital of Bihar province under the British Raj.

Patna played a major role in the Indian independence struggle. Most notable are the Champaran movement against the Indigo plantation and the 1942 Quit India Movement. Patna's contribution in the freedom struggle has been immense with outstanding national leaders like Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, the first President of the Constituent Assembly of India; Dr. Sachidanand Sinha; Dr. Rajendra Prasad; Bihar Vibhuti (Anugrah Narayan Sinha);[19]Basawon Singh (Sinha); Loknayak (Jayaprakash Narayan); Sri Krishna Sinha; Sheel Bhadra Yajee; Sarangdhar Sinha (Singh); Yogendra Shukla; and many others who worked for India's freedom relentlessly. Shrii Anandamurti formed the Ananda Marga movement in Patna in 1962 to work for world unity and justice. He modernized the ancient practices of yoga and made the most advanced practices of meditation available to the general public. He spoke about the inequality of women (both in India and worldwide). As an example, he questioned the morality of the dowry system of marriage and the Indian caste system. His Ananda Marga organization spread worldwide and teaches both neo-humanism (oneness of family of life) and PROUT (Progressive Utilization Theory) for overall economic development. He is considered a leader in the field of philosophy and morality.

Patna continued to be the capital of the state of Bihar after independence in 1947, though Bihar itself was partitioned again in 2000 when Jharkhand was carved out as a separate state of the Indian union.

Geography

Patna is located on the south bank of the Ganges River, called Ganga locally. An impressive characteristic of the geography of Patna is its confluence of rivers. The Ganges River is the largest. It is joined by the four mighty rivers: Ghagra, Gandak, Punpun and Sone. The Ganga is a respectable river as it passes through the district of Patna where it seems to be fully as large as in any part of its course for the huge flow of the Kosi. Just to the north of Patna across the Ganges River flows the Gandak. Patna is unique in having four large rivers in its vicinity. It is the largest riverine city in the world. The bridge over the river Ganga named Mahatma Gandhi Setu is 5575m long and is one of the longest (single river) bridges in the world.

Patna, as most of Bihar, has a humid subtropical climate with hot summers from late March to early June, the monsoon season from late June to late September and a mild winter from November to February. The table below details historical monthly averages for climate variables. Highest ever recorded is 55 °C, lowest ever is -6 °C and annual rainfall is 1000 mm.

From the very ancient time Patna has a rich socioeconomic background. Patna has long been a major agricultural center of trade, its most active exports being grain, sugarcane, sesame, and medium-grained Patna rice. It is also an important business center of eastern India.

In the last few years, the growth in Patna has been quite phenomenal.[citation needed] With the improvement in the law and order after the regime change, all the major companies have set up shop in Patna. The companies have started to recognize Patna's growing upper and middle class's purchasing power. This has led to a boom in the real estate sector and prices for commercial as well as residential complexes have hit the roof despite the global economic meltdown.[citation needed] The modern Patna, though still not comparable to the developed state capitals, is changing for the better. By the end of 2010, the city will have four new malls that are coming up in different parts of the capital. This includes the P&M Mall & Multiplex that is being promoted by Prakash Jha's company. A slew of residential properties are also being developed in response to the huge demand for these in Patna. Large-format retailers such as Big Bazaar and the Future Group are planning to set up their stores by next year. A number of restaurants such as Yo China, Moti Mahal, Smoking Joes and Dosa Plaza have established their presence in Patna.

Being the state capital, with a growing middle income group households, Patna has also emerged as a big and rapidly expanding consumer market, both for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), as also for other consumer durable items. A large and growing population, and expanding boundaries of the city, is also spurring growth of service sector. Several multinational companies have also come up at Patna; one example is Tata Consultancy Services.

The hinterland of Patna is endowed with excellent agro-climatic resources and the gains of the green revolution have enabled the older eastern part of Patna (locally called as Patna City) to develop as a leading grain market of the state of Bihar, and one of the biggest in eastern India.

Financial Express reported on April 7, 2008 that even as Bihar has the lowest per capita income in the country at Rs 5,772 against the national average of Rs 22,946, some of its southern districts are much better off compared with those in the north. This disparity within the state is clearly reflected in Bihar's latest economic survey for 2007–08. The survey shows that Patna, Munger, and Begusarai in south Bihar were the three best-off districts out of a total of 38 districts, recording the highest per capita gross district domestic product (GDP) of Rs 31,441, Rs 10,087, and Rs 9,312, respectively in 2004-05. In contrast, right at the bottom of the rank, with the lowest per capita GDP, were the northern districts of Araria at Rs 4,578, Sitamarhi at Rs 4,352, and Sheohar at Rs 3,636.

Culture

Though geographically located in the Magadh region of Bihar, many residents of Patna are natives of one of the four other regions of Bihar - Bhojpur, Mithila, Vajj, or Ang, which differ only slightly from each other. Intermarriages and cultural intermixing among the people of the five regions has been so common that it may be difficult for an outsider to discern the differences. Intermixing of people is also common at the village level (e.g. resident of Gulni include people from Gaya, Ganga-par and other villages).

People are religious and family-oriented, and their lives are deeply rooted in tradition. The interests of the family take precedence over that of an individual. Families are generally large, though the government is actively encouraging family planning to curb rapid population growth. Extended families often live together in one home because of economic necessity. Although the culture is same among the regions, the dialects spoken are quite different. Many talented people of Bihar have emigrated for better opportunities.

Traffic congestions are common as in other major cities of the country. As of now, only public rapid transit system is limited to some private buses. For individual public transport, there are many car rentals in Patna that provide A/C & Non-A/C cars on hire at reasonable rates. Recently, the government has appointed a private consultant Mr. Sudeep Arun Kumar (UK based NRI) to overhaul the traffic and public transport system. He has also proposed a One-way Taffic System for the centre of Patna named as Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan Circle to Govt. of Bihar which is yet to be implemented. The government has also placed orders for over 50 low floor A/C and Non-A/C buses to ease congestion on city roads under JNNURM. This move is expected to improve traffic and public transport facilities in and around Patna.

Patna is also an important transit point of the region for tourists from India and abroad. Patna is well-connected by air, rail and road transport. The airport is known as Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport or Patna airport. It is classified as a restricted international airport and it is connected to all major cities of India via daily flights.

Places of interest

Patna has a 3,000-year history. The rich culture and heritage of Bihar is evident from the innumerable ancient monuments that dot the region. Patna is home to many tourist attractions. About 2,500,000 (2.5 million) tourists visit Patna every year.[31]

Kumhrar,[32]Agam Kuan[33] is the site of the ruins of the Ashokan Pataliputra. Didarganj Yakshi is a fine example of Mauryan art[34] and may be India's most famous piece of art.[34] The famous Hanuman Mandir has the second highest budget in North India after the famous Vaishno Devi shrine.[35] Patan Devi is the oldest temple and Patna's name is derived from Patan (Devanagari: पतन), the name of the Hindu goddess of this temple.[11] Birla Mandir and Kali Mandir are other famous Hindu temples.

Infotainment complexes

Patna Museum : Patna Museum is the state museum of Bihar which built by the British during the British Raj in the year 1917 to house the historical artcfacts found in the vicinity of Patna. The items on display include archaeological objects, coins, art objects, paintings, instruments, textiles, paintings, thankas, bronze images and sculptures and terracotta images of Hindu, Buddhist artists and many rare objects.

Srikrishna Science Centre : Srikrishna Science Centre was established in Patna in the year 1978 and was named after the first Chief Minister of Bihar, Dr. Sri Krishna Singh. At present the Centre has four permanent galleries, Fun Science, Evolution, Mirrors and Oceans and a Science Park. A new gallery is under construction.

Lately, Patna has also emerged as a major center for engineering and civil services coaching. All the major private IIT-JEE coaching institutes have opened up their branches here and this has helped in reducing the number of students who used to got to places like Kota & Delhi for engineering/medical coaching.

Sports

As in the rest of India, cricket is the most popular sport in Patna. There are several cricket grounds (or maidans) located across the city, including the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, which is second largest in eastern India, next only to 'Eden Gardens' of Kolkata.[54] The stadium features a swimming pool and a cricket academy. This statdium has served as venue for two One day international matches and several national sport event. Patna Golf Club situated west of the Government House to the South Bihar Gymkhana Club. It is 165 acresGolf Field.[55] and includes some very tough holes, this well-maintained course will prove interesting to amateur and pros alike.[56] Patna Indoor Stadium also known as Rainbow Field is indoor - outdoor sporting complex and will be renamed after Abhinav Bindra.[57].

^ abOf the city PataliputraIndika, Book II, Frag. XXV, Strab. XV. i. 35-36,--p. 702. Frag XXVI.Arr. Ind. 10. Of Pataliputra "... the greatest city in India is that which is called Palimbothra, in the dominions of the Prasians, where the streams of the Erannoboas and the Ganges unite,--the Ganges being the greatest of all rivers, and the Erannoboas being perhaps the third largest of Indian rivers, though greater than the greatest rivers elsewhere; but it is smaller than the Ganges where it falls into it. Megasthenes informs us that this city stretched in the inhabited quarters to an extreme length on each side of eighty stadia, and that its breadth was fifteen stadia, and that a ditch encompassed it all round, which was six hundred feet in breadth and thirty cubits in depth, and that the wall was crowned with 570 towers and had four-and-sixty gates...."

^Pataliputra Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms by Fa Hein, tr. by James Legge, Chapter XXVII, Pataliputtra or Patna, in Magadha. King Asoka's spirit-built palace and halls. The Buddhist Brahman, Radha-Sami. Dispensaries and hospitals...... n.1 Pataliputra, The Sanskrit name means "The city of flowers." It is the Indian Florence.

^ Omalley L.S.S., History of Magadha, Veena Publication, Delhi, 2005, pp. 36, "Sher Shah on his return from Bengal, in 1541, came to Patna, then a small town dependent on Bihar, .... In 1620 we find Portuguese merchants at Patna; and Tavernier's account shows that a little more than a century after its foundation it was the great entrepot of Northern India "the largest town in Bengal and the most famous for trade..."

From LoveToKnow 1911

PATNA, a
city, district, and division of British India, in the Behar province of Bengal. The city, which is the most important
commercial centre in Bengal after Calcutta, lies on the right bank of the Ganges, a little distance below
the confluence of the Sone and the
Gogra, and opposite the
confluence of the Gandak, with
a station on the East Indian railway 332 m. N.W. of Calcutta. Municipal
area, 6184 acres. Pop. 134,785. Including the civil station of Bankipur to the west, the
city stretches along the river bank for nearly miles. Still farther
west is the military cantonment of Dinapur. A government college was founded in
1862. Other educational institutions include the Behar school of
engineering organized in 1897.

Patna city has been identified with Pataliputra (the Palibothra
of Megasthenes, who came as ambassador from Seleucus Nicator to
Chandragupta about 300 B.e.). Megasthenes describes Palibothra as
being the capital of India. He
adds that its length was 80 stadia, and breadth 15; that it was
surrounded by a ditch 30 cubits deep, and that the walls were
adorned with 57 o towers and 64 gates. According to this account
the circumference of the city would be 190 stadia or 254 miles. Asoka built an outer masonry wall and beautified the
city with innumerable stone buildings. The greater part of the
ancient city still lies buried in the silt of the rivers under
Patna and Bankipur at a depth of from to 20 ft. The two events in
the modern history of the district are the massacre of Patna (1763) and the SepoyMutiny in 1857. The former occurrence, which may
be said to have settled the fate of Mahommedan rule in Bengal, was
the result of a quarrel between the nawab, Mir Kasim, and the English authorities
regarding transit duties, which ultimately led to open hostilities.
The company's sepoys, who had occupied Patna city by the orders of
the company's factor, were driven out by the nawab's troops and
nearly all killed. The remainder afterwards surrendered, and were
put into confinement, together with the European officers and the
entire staff of the Cossimbazar factory, who had also been
arrested on the first outbreak of hostilities. Mir Kasim was
defeated in two pitched battles at Gheria and Udhanala
(Oodeynullah) in August and September 1763, and in revenge ordered
the massacre of all his prisoners, which was carried out with the
help of a renegade in his employment named Walter Reinhardt,
(afterwards the husband of the famous Begum Samru). About sixty
Englishmen were murdered on this occasion, the bodies being thrown
into a well belonging to the house in which they were confined. At
the outbreak of the mutiny in May 1857 the three sepoy regiments
stationed at Dinapur (the military cantonment of Patna, adjoining
the city) were allowed to retain their arms till July, when, on an
attempt being made to disarm them, they broke into open revolt.
Although many who attempted to cross the Ganges in boats were fired
into and run down by a pursuing steamer, the majority crossed by
the Sone river into Shahabad, where they joined the rebels under
Kuar Singh who were then besieging a small European community at Arrah.

The District Of Patna has an area of 2075 sq. m.; pop. (1901),
1,624,985. Throughout the greater part of its extent the district
is a level plain; but towards the south the ground rises into
hills. The soil is for the most part alluvial, and the country
along the bank of the Ganges is peculiarly fertile. The general
line of drainage is from west to east; and high ground along the
south of the Ganges forces back the rivers flowing from Gaya district. The result is that
during the rains nearly the whole interior of the district south of
a line drawn parallel to the Ganges, and 4 or 5 m. from its bank,
is flooded. In the south-east are the Rajgir Hills, consisting of
two parallel ridges running southwest, with a narrow valley
between, intersected by ravines and passes. These hills, which
seldom exceed 1000 ft. in height, are rocky and clothed with thick
low jungle, and contain some
of the earliest memorials of Indian Buddhism. The chief rivers are the Ganges and
the Sone. The only other river of any consequence is the Punpun,
which is chiefly remarkable for the number of petty irrigation canals which
it supplies. So much of the river is thus diverted that only a
small portion of its water ever reaches the Ganges at Fatwa. The
chief crops are rice, wheat, barley, maize
and pulse; poppy and potatoes xx. 30 are also of importance.
Apart from the Sone canal, irrigation is largely practised from
private channels and also from wells. The district is traversed by the main line
of the East Indian railway, with two branches south to Gaya and
Bihar.

The Division Of Patna extended across both sides of the Ganges.
It comprised the seven districts of Patna, Gaya, Shahabad, Saran, Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga. Total area,
23,748 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 15,514,987. In 1908 the four last
districts north of the Ganges were formed into the new division of
Tirhut; and the name of Patna
division was confined to the three first districts south of the
Ganges.